


Breaking Legend

by linkedandferal (fanficsandferal)



Series: Linked Universe Babes [16]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Depression, Distrust, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidnapping, LGBTQ Themes, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Murder, Poor Legend, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stabbing, Stockholm Syndrome, Toxic Relationship, Unhealthy Relationships, and legend, because... blue, cursing, dumbass links, stab stab stab
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26434390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanficsandferal/pseuds/linkedandferal
Summary: Oh, how a few words can ruin someone’s life.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Four & Legend (Linked Universe), Four & Warriors (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe), Legend/an asshole thanks, Time & Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe), Time & Warriors (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Series: Linked Universe Babes [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644811
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71





	Breaking Legend

Legend was helping Four sharpen the swords of the group. It was almost like when Four found out Legend was a blacksmith too, a small dynamic changed between them; he was able to help repair things like the swords and just sat with Four. It was nice, being away from the chaos that is Wild, Wind, and usually Hyrule. Even though Legend had a soft spot for Hyrule, some antics did get on his nerves.

Being with Four gave some quiet time to the both of them. Four seemed to enjoy the quiet a lot, they’re always thinking, and the quiet seemed to give them the space to think. Legend found he related to the shorter in this regard. The Veteran also found himself enjoying the presence of the blacksmith. Even though they were quiet, it wasn’t lonely.

He found his mind wandering to a girl. His dream girl, both figuratively and literally. She was beautiful, like the hibiscus she wore on her ear. Her skin glowed in the  sun; her smile just as bright. Legend’s heart felt a pang as he thought of her. Her name used to be Marin. Beautiful, just as her ginger hair which shifted and shined with light. The wind blew through it playfully, laughing along with her as they walked through the beach. The pink-haired man paused. Birds chirped above them in a soft song, and Legend was thankful for the background noise.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” Four said softly, breaking the silence. Despite this, Legend jumped slightly, his hair bouncing softly and his ears alert. The smithy let out a laugh and turned to the taller. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, just daydreaming.” Legend answered, making Four nod and stand up. 

“I'm going to start giving these back.” Four said with some equipment in their hands, “Bring what you have when you're done.”

Legend confirms with a nod and the Smithy leaves. He sighs and lets his mind drift away again, to a girl with red hair and who smells like the morning by the beach. He barely registered the break behind him, and turned, thinking it’s just an animal.

“Hello?” He asked boredly. No response came and Legend shrugged, turning back and about to continue the sharpening of the swords when his vision went black.

The others were getting incredibly worried as time passed by with no signs of Legend.

“We should go look for him,” Hyrule suggested. He was anxious, fiddling with the bottom of his tunic and biting his lip nervously, peeling off pieces of skin. Time sighed softly, placing his hand on the magic-wielders shoulder. 

“Smithy, you and the Captain go and check out where he was.”

The two mentioned nodded and stood, Warriors cracking his back as he got up.

“Let’s go, little guy,” Warriors grinned smugly. Four made a mental note to steal his kneecaps. They went into where Four was before. They frowned when they realized that not only is Legend not there anymore, the swords and gear are still there, including his weapons and hat. Other than that, the scene looked fine- to Warriors at least.

“Maybe he had to go to the bathroom.” Warriors shrugged softly, not worried about his teammate missing. Four walked over to the spot where Legend was.

_ Look, something was dragged here.  _ Vio supplied in their mind. Four felt worry well up in their chest.

_ What if he’s hurt?  _ Red whimpered, taking the front as Fours eyes shifted red. Warriors took notice quickly.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” The Captain walked over as Four took a calming breath, their eyes changing back to their heterochromia hues of red, blue, violet, and green.

“Something, or some _ one _ was being dragged.” Four bit their lip. “Look.”

Warriors looked over the Smithy’s shoulder and his eyes widened, shock taking over his features.

“It looks like it was tried to be concealed,” Warriors mumbled, holding onto his chin. Four nodded along with him. 

“Let’s get Wolfie out here.”

Legend woke up somewhere else, grogginess flooding his mind. His mind blanked.  _ Where am I? _ His thoughts went wild as he carefully sat up. Looking around, it was nowhere familiar. He sat there, trying to think. He would’ve remembered by now!

With a sigh, the Veteran ran a hand through his hair but something stopped him. He frowned and pulled again; hearing metal clink together confirmed something he was trying to avoid thinking about.

_ He was kidnapped _ .

Panic quickly set in; he couldn’t believe this! He only remembers waking up this morning; yesterday morning? He couldn’t tell. How long was he asleep? His mind raced as he pulled on the shackles. Legend froze as he heard talking in the distance.  _ Oh, Goddess, I’m going to die here.  _ Legend felt the dread sink into a pit in his stomach as nausea reared its nasty head. The Veteran swallowed the feeling down and found he was dehydrated.

_ Great. Just great. I’m going to die soon and I can’t even have the luxury of having some water in my system? And why is it so hot?  _ Legend became hyper aware of the heat seeping into his clothes. His skin was hot and sweat rolled down his legs, the skirt becoming stuck like glue. Despite of how uncomfortable it was, he was desperately trying to come to peace with his death. It wasn’t working. Panic was still in his chest, his heart tightening and loosening just to tighten again. He was  _ scared _ ,  no,  _ terrified _ _ ,  _ of what comes next. Legend’s ears twitched as he attempted to listen in on the conversation between what he assumed was his captors.

“... You kidnapped the wrong blond one! We wanted the one with the scarf! Just kill him!” Legend let out a soft gasp.

“We don’t need to kill him!”

“Do it!” The cell door opened and in came two men into the room, one holding a short sword. Legend’s heart leapt to his throat as the one with the sword came up, the taller one glared, and Legend completely missed the shared wink between the two. The taller, clearly the leader, slammed the door from behind him, leaving Legend and the one with the weapon behind.

Legend whimpered, he fucking  _ whimpered _ , and pushed up against the wall. He was terrified of possible death, even though he craved it in the past. He was absolutely  _ helpless.  _ The man let the sword fall beside him, and he went to his knees, grabbing Legends wrists. Legend attempted to pull away, but didn’t succeed.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” He whispered, and Legend let a little flutter of hope in his heart escape. “My name is Simon.”

Oh, how a few words can ruin someone’s life. 

Everyone was on edge at camp. The sun was lowering more and there was no sign of Legend, Four, or Warriors. The camp seemed to hold its breath. Hyrule kept his hand on his sword, Twilight bit his nail, even Time was anxious. Wild carefully stirred the soup as the group grew more ridged every second. Eventually, Four and Warriors came running in.

“He’s gone! Completely!” Four cried out.

“We need Wolfie to track his scent!” Warriors panted after him. Time turned to Twilight who jumped up.

“I’ll go call Wolfie.” Twilight said, taking a deep breath. Wild ran up behind him.

“I’m going with,” Wild murmured. The wolfish man nodded and they went off.

Hyrule was stunned. The news of Legend being gone shook him to his very core. Wind stood up, deathly serious.

“We need to split up into groups,” Wind asserted. Sky nodded along and looked over at Time, who nodded.

“Okay- Sailor, you’ll go with me, Sky, you and Traveler go together, and then Captain and Smithy.”  The Hylians individually nodded and grabbed any gear they needed, splitting up a few moments later.

Twilight shifted and Wild looked at the man turned wolf.

“You have his scent, right?” Wild asked. Twilight nodded and started sniffing the ground, and then sprints off in a direction. Wild quickly follows, keeping an eye out for any peering eyes. Twilight seems confused soon enough, faltering before turning and finally stopping, whimpering and pawing his nose. Wild frowned and bent down beside the wolf.

“What’s wrong?” Wild whispered, softly stroking the soft wolf ears. Twilight shook his head and shifted, still holding his nose.

“We went in a circle- there's so many scents that my nose is confused and I’m overwhelmed,” Twilight groaned softly. “This usually doesn’t happen.”

“They covered their  _ scent _ tracks?” Wild asked, tilting his head. “How would they know to cover them? since they got the Veteran while he was alone... they  _ had  _ to be stalking!”

Twilight nodded, “They either saw me shifting or they saw that a wolf comes in every now and again.”

Wild nodded in agreement and looked around the small meadow. “So how do we get back?” Twilight froze and lifted his hand, pointing weakly in a direction. Wild shrugged and they trudged off in that hesitant route.

On the opposite side of the mentor and protégé, Wind stood with Time, crossing his arms and standing defiantly. Next to them was a path of broken branches that they had been following, but so far it led them nowhere. Time was studying a nearby tree while Wind walked around a little bit.

“Hey.” Wind called out softly. Time turned to the younger with a look of confusion. “There’s no other branches we can follow.”

Time blinked, “What?” He looked around. There  were no other broken branches besides the ones that brought them here.

“Maybe we can spread out? Maybe there’s some not in the immediate area.” Wind suggested, desperation laced in his voice. Time looked at the tree again.

“ _ Or _ we just got tricked,” Time murmured, “How didn’t I see this before? These were intentional!”

Wind stared for a second before walking over and going to the branch. There seemed nothing wrong with it at first.

“Alright, old man, what am I looking at?” Wind asked, crossing his arms in confusion.

Time sighed. “Look, these branches are broken facing down, like they were broken from the top.” He placed his hand above the branch, and Wind nodded hesitantly. “If they were fleeing with the Veteran, they would be broken sideways. With how often they were broken should’ve been a red flag, but I assumed we were getting lucky.”

Wind nodded with a small ‘o’ on his features. 

“Let’s get back to the camp then,” Wind mumbled, “Dumb waste of time.”

Time lightly laughed and started leading him back from where they came.

Four groaned as Warriors stopped again. “How often are we stopping?” Warriors turned to the smaller and glared. 

“I don’t want us to get lost, this trail is super confusing.” Warriors defended. “We’ve gone in circles three times in three different areas. I just want to make sure we’re not going to get turned around.”

_ In circles? Three times? Isn't that odd?  _ Green questioned. Four paused for a moment to collect their thoughts.

_ We did say that they looked like they tried to conceal it.  _ Vio mumbled. Red let out a gasp in their minds.

_ Are we following a fake trail?  _ Red moaned.

_ Of course, we fucking are, fucking Hylia...  _ Blue said, scoffing.

“This is a fake trail, Captain.” Four said. Warriors looked over again, then to the trail, then to the Smithy again. Then screamed.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! Did you know, Smithy?!” Warriors burst out. Four would’ve died laughing if not for the situation.

“No, I just figured it out myself,” Four shrugged. Warriors blanked and turned around harshly, stomping off. Four followed with a light step in their foot.

Hyrule sat next to Sky. They were on a log next to a group of trees. Everything looked the same around them.

“We’re  _ lost _ ,” Sky bawled. Hyrule took a heavy breath.

“We’re not  _ lost _ , we’re just  _ misplaced _ ,” Hyrule shrugged. Sky looked over, his face in total confusion.

“That means we’re  _ LOST _ , Traveler! L-O-S-T!” Sky ran a hand through his hair, his brownish locks flopping back down on his forehead. 

“Not with that attitude! Look, all we need to do is just. Walk around. It’ll solve itself,” Hyrule tried to brush it off.

“How are you  _ living _ ? I couldn’t get two feet without checking my map!” 

Hyrule shrugged and stood up. “Maps are for the weak, let’s go.”

Sky stared at him in shock and stood up. The Traveler nodded and walked in a random direction he decided on then and there.

Legend was placed in a different cell that was somehow worse than his previous one. He was still chained, but he didn’t mind that anymore. The Veteran leaned his head on the wall, just thinking about all the wrong doings he had done in his life to get to this point. He decided it was after he killed Marin; everything went downhill from there anyways. All he had to blame was himself.

_ He  _ woke the  Windfish ,  _ he _ let his guard down,  _ he  _ allowed himself to trust the eight other  Hero es. Trust them not to hurt him, he allowed himself to become  _ vulnerable _ . 

Legend sat upright as he heard the door open. He ignored the longing in his heart. Simon walked over with a plate in his hands and keys. He took a shaking breath as he was released from his restraints. He then opened his palms for the plate. Simon set it down and watched as he ate.

Why was he so comfortable with the one who kidnapped him? How long has it been since then? He didn’t dwell on these thoughts, he just ate. More questions went into his mind- why did he trust the food wouldn’t be poisoned? Why was he treated so well?

Legend finished and set the plate down, looking up at Simon almost obediently. The Veteran completely missed the smirk that formed on Simons face. He walks up to Legend and lifts up his chin with his fingers. Legend almost bites them, but rationalizes that maybe,  _ just maybe _ , he can get out of this alive. So, he sits there, calmly, but writhing inside as his lips press together with his kidnappers.

There was a point in Legend’s life where he knew if he was kidnapped, he was dead. But now, he’s not sure anymore. Simon  _ never _ has hurt him. Legend thought being kidnapped was supposed to hurt- not be actually kind of nice. The Veteran was being treated as a friend, not a  _ prisoner _ , or how he  _ thought _ prisoners were treated. 

He was fed what he assumed was three times a day, he was treated like a friend, it made Legend very conflicted. His kidnapper had never hurt him- even when he was ordered to.

Legend takes a deep breath and relaxes. He’s safe here.

Three switches happen since Legend was gone. Without the extra manpower, battles have been harder than ever. Hyrule misses who he can only describe as a mentor, Warriors misses the bickering, even Time misses Legend.

Four didn’t realize how much he relied on Legend to help him with weapons and equipment. Camp is  _ quiet _ without Legend. Wind's stories don’t feel the same without the skeptical Legend chiming in.

Twilight blames himself. He got tricked and Legend’s paying the price. He lets his mind wander into scary territory of what’s happening to his brother. Is he being tortured? Has he been murdered?  _ What happened _ ? How could his nose fuck up at this time? Why, why, why?

The Champion notices the Farmhand’s hurt first, and gives him a heaping serving of hearty stew. He smiles at his mentor gently, desperate for some normalcy. Twilight only gives him small lift of his lips, nothing fully behind the ‘smile’.

“How did they trick us so bad?” Warriors quietly spoke to their leader. They sat together with their bowls in their hands. Neither of them had the appetite to eat, however, despite this, they picked up their spoons and ate anyways. Just to make their Champion happy.

“They’re smart,” Time gently replied, “We didn’t expect them to take the Veteran, nor would we expect them if one of you got kidnapped.”

Warriors took his spoon and puts it in his mouth, thinking. 

“We’ll find him. They covered a bunch of their tracks; they don’t plan on killing him,” Time sighed, then said in a lower voice, “I hope.”

Legend’s heart pounded as the door opened. It wasn’t from fear or from panic, it was different. It was a small warmth in his chest that refused to go away. Legend ignored it.

Simon takes off Legend’s restraints and the Veteran rubs his wrists, looking up at his captor. Legend blanked- why did it feel  _ wrong _ to call Simon his captor? Legend’s lips met Simon’s in a loving embrace. He never thought that he would feel this way again- with anyone. Especially after Marin.

For once, Legend didn’t hurt as much as he thought about her. 

He suddenly thought about  Ravio , and how the bunny man would react to him if he saw him now. Would  Ravio be disappointed? Disgusted? Does  Ravio even miss Legend? If so, how much? Does he miss Legend’s presence or does he miss Legend’s wallet? The Veteran forced himself to stop going down that rabbit hole.

The two pulled away and Simon spoke.

“Who is the one with the blue scarf?” He said, stroking Legend’s cheek, and Legend, like a fool, spilled everything.

Two months, one week, three days, six hours, forty minutes, and 16 seconds have passed since Legend has disappeared. Their group dynamic change- it  _ had  _ to in order for them to survive. Time counted the numbers in his head as they walked through a familiar forest. Hyrule held his hand to his chest, looking down, clearly thinking about Legend. They all were. Twilight stared off into space, still genuinely believing that it’s his fault that Legend’s gone. No one else blamed him, but he still hated himself.

“Hey guys?” Wind started, everyone looked at him like he’s brave for speaking up in a damaging place. “Is that a cabin?”

Wind pointed into the woods. The other seven  Hero es snapped their heads to where the 14-year-old was pointing. There was indeed a cabin.

“Okay- we don’t know who lives here, I’ll go first,” Time said and the others reluctantly agreed, gathering behind the leader. Time knocked and the door opened, revealing a short man with brown hair and freckles.

“Hello?” The man asked.

“Hello, my name is Time and this is my group, we were wondering nearby when we noticed this cabin nearby,” Time explained, then adding, “We’re hoping for a night to stay and then we can be on our way.”

“Well, I’m Simon, for starters,” The newly dubbed Simon said, then his eyes ran over everyone, pausing at Warriors, then going back to Time, and smiled. “Come on in.”

The eight  Hero es shuffled into the cabin. A short sword was by the mantle, a few candles were around, and there was a hallway by their left.  _ Cozy _ they had all thought.

Simon went into a nearby kitchen and started boiling water. 

“We don’t have much room, so you’re going to have to sleep in here,” He said, smiling at the  Hero es.

None of them liked it at all. Warriors noticed Simon lingered his eyes on him for a time. Time noticed it too, but just hoped he thought the Captain was really pretty. Wild was eyeing the tea Simon was making- he didn’t trust it at all. Wind tried to lighten the mood again, letting his eyes shift from the  Hero es to Simon and telling some dramatic tale of his adventures- but his tales didn’t hit right. Hyrule and Sky cracked jokes as well, but again, they just didn’t lighten the mood. Twilight stared off into space again. Four just listened to themselves think for a while. 

Simon didn’t comment on the lackluster atmosphere but did set the tea down in front of the  Hero es. Then he left to a nearby room. The eight took a relieved breath as he left.

“We don’t trust that guy, right?” Sky whispered. Warriors nodded.

“I don’t like the way he looked at you, Captain,” Time said, looking over his shoulder.

Wind pouted softly, “His smile was so off, wasn’t it? It felt fake.”

Hyrule nodded, picking up the cup and sniffing it. Wild sighs softly.

“I didn’t see him put anything in the tea, but I still don’t trust it.”

The Traveler nodded, “Then someone should test it out.”

“And you want that person to, be you?” Warriors questioned. Hyrule nodded with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Then we’ll know if something’s wrong,” The Traveler looks at Time for permission. The leader paused.

“Alright.” Time winced softly, clearly hesitant. Hyrule blew the cup softly to cool it down and takes a few sips of the tea.

The others watched carefully. “I mean, it’s not bad.”

The group let out a sigh of collective relief as Hyrule turned out to be fine.

Legend heard voices in the next room. He couldn’t  _ place _ them. They were so incredibly familiar but he couldn’t place it. He knew hours ticked by and he heard the voice quiet. Legend let out a sigh. He didn’t know why he was so anxious for people to be there.  _ What if they could help you?  _ Legend didn’t need help. He was happy where he was.  _ Right _ .

Simon came in after a few minutes,  _ hours _ ? __ He didn’t know anymore- he couldn’t think. All that he did know was that he was intoxicated by Simon. He thought it was love- he really did.

“Stand up,” Simon hissed quietly.  _ What _ ? What was going on? Legend stood up- completely failing. How long has it been since he last walked somewhere, let along  _ stood _ ? He didn’t know, he couldn’t fi _ gure it out! _

The Veteran ( _ Could I even be counted as a  _ _ Hero _ _ anymore? _ ) wobbled shakily, stumbling as Simon pulled him out of the room.

“Our time,”  _ Time? _ “has come to finally end the one they call the  Hero of Warriors.”  _ Warriors? Wait, the vain Captain? No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening- I will not betray him, he doesn’t deserve it! _

_ But all of them do.  _ A sick thought creeped into his head, sweeter than kisses on a sunlit beach. Enticing and tempting. Seducing him to do something. Legend felt sick thinking about it. He felt something cold go into his hands, and wrapping his hand around it- he knew what it was. 

Could he really hurt a comrade?

A  _ brother _ ?

Could he cause pain for his family and friends, maybe his lovers? Could Legend let  _ himself be a killer _ ?

Simon forced Legend down to his knees and Legend desperately tried to understand. What did this reincarnation  _ do _ ? What could have this Link possibly done to hurt Simon? Or to hurt anyone?

Legend stared down at Warriors and knew what he had to do. 

He turned and stabbed Simon in the chest, letting out a choked scream.  Simon's eyes widened as the Downfall  Hero climbed on top of him, stab after stab even when his vision was a mix of tears and blood. Someone pulled him off of his kidnapper and Legend fought.

_ He wasn’t done! He wasn’t fucking do-! _

Soft whispers into his ears. He froze-  _ Traveler? _ He turned his head to the sounds and through the tears and the blood, his eyes met a light green.

Legend was back.  _ Legend was back! _ Everyone held the newly found  Hero with tears in their eyes. Legend couldn’t seem to stop sobbing apologies.

No one told him that  Ravio cried when they told him that Legend was kidnapped, or how everyone seemed to be on eggshells when he was mentioned- but now, since he was back, they can take a step forward in a new direction.

Time cleverly named this phase  _ The Road to Healing. _ (He high fived himself when he thought of it. Everyone watched.)

A few weeks went by and some walked on eggshells around Legend, others, namely Wind, Warriors, and Wild (WWW), treated him the same as before. Legend was grateful for both, being treated carefully helped him figure out what hurt and what didn’t, but being treated the same helped create a sense of normalcy.

He bickered with Warriors again, each comeback having Legend feel like he wasn’t broken. Wild let Legend help with meals, the Downfall  Hero finding that he’s really good with cooking. Under guidance. Wind told tall tales again and Legend let his snarky mouth run off.

Legend let himself lay closer to Hyrule, and as he closed his eyes, he remembered a beautiful girl with red hair and a pink hibiscus and for the first time, appreciated he was alive.

**Author's Note:**

> holy hylia this took forever!


End file.
